Curbside Classic Outtake: Dear Santa…

by Paul Niedermeyer

Published: December 24th, 2009

May all your Christmas, Holiday and New Year’s wishes come true. For mine to come true, Santa, this Pantera is going to need a little home-country friend to keep it company, like the one after the jump:

#Abarth750 #ChristmasPresent #Double-bubble #Pantera #Zagato

Paul Niedermeyer

More by Paul Niedermeyer

Comments

Join the conversation

3 of 11 comments

Porschespeed on Dec 26, 2009
Full-time rust fixer, maybe, mechanic, I think not. That’s a Ford V8 under there, with IIRC the same transaxle as a GT40. The marginal cooling system may be an issue on a hot day, but otherwise the drivetrain is as stout as the come. Of course, they toss the rest of it in for free…. True, it has a 351, so it's rather easy to hop up. The transaxle is a classic piece by ZF. Works well, up to a point - above 800 or so HP, they tend to frag. ZF no longer does parts for it, but there's a guy that has all the parts and tools. Everybody that I know that has had one fixed the cooling eons ago - simple to do. The rest of them were pretty well sorted by the 80s. The later model GT5 is a bit boy-racer for some, but I like it in the bespoilered-Countach sort of way. The driving position is a bit classic 'ciao Sofia', but pretty livable (I'm 6'). Personally, if you're looking for something that's fun and well sorted for $50K, I'd recommend it. Bonus: you don't see a dozen of them every time you drive to McDonalds. Unlike C5s/C6s...

Like Reply
- FreedMike on Dec 28, 2009
  
  True, but then again, that 'Vette probably has a decent A/C system, and won't bake you alive as you drive it.
  
  Like
Andy D on Dec 27, 2009

British eye candy. I go to Limerock Labor Day WE for an annual dose. Veery pretty ,and I dont have to keep them going

Like Reply

Recent Comments

Dave M. IMO this was the last of the solidly built MBs. Yes, they had the environmentally friendly disintegrating wiring harness, but besides that the mechanicals are pretty solid. I just bought my "forever" car (last new daily driver that'll ease me into retirement), but a 2015-16 E Class sedan is on my bucket list for future purchase. Beautiful design....
Rochester After years of self-driving being in the news, I still don't understand the psychology behind it. Not only don't I want this, but I find the idea absurd.
Douglas This timeframe of Mercedes has the self-disintegrating engine wiring harness. Not just the W124, but all of them from the early 90's. Only way to properly fix it is to replace it, which I understand to be difficult to find a new one/do it/pay for. Maybe others have actual experience with doing so and can give better hope. On top of that, it's a NH car with "a little bit of rust", which means to about anyone else in the USA it is probably the rustiest W124 they have ever seen. This is probably a $3000 car on a good day.
Formula m How many Hyundai and Kia’s do not have the original engine block it left the factory with 10yrs prior?
1995 SC I will say that year 29 has been a little spendy on my car (Motor Mounts, Injectors and a Supercharger Service since it had to come off for the injectors, ABS Pump and the tool to cycle the valves to bleed the system, Front Calipers, rear pinion seal, transmission service with a new pan that has a drain, a gaggle of capacitors to fix the ride control module and a replacement amplifier for the stereo. Still needs an exhaust manifold gasket. The front end got serviced in year 28. On the plus side blank cassettes are increasingly easy to find so I have a solid collection of 90 minute playlists.